A short visit when you happen to run into them.
Ask why Emma Smith was only sealed to Joseph after 20+ other women were sealed to him?

Or how Brigham Young could have 5 divorces?

They usually remember they are late for another appointment.

JoeSmith666 Wrote:
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> A short visit when you happen to run into them.
> Ask why Emma Smith was only sealed to Joseph after
> 20+ other women were sealed to him?
>
> Or how Brigham Young could have 5 divorces?
>
> They usually remember they are late for another
> appointment.

Meeting, I have a meeting..

Previous commitment?

Sorry to be a bit abrupt, I'm late..

We'll have to maybe reschedule for another time..

Can you meet at church? Sunday..?

There isn't anything about the missionaries that would make me want to debate with them or to be in conflict with them. I went on a mission myself. I saw a few hundred fulltime missionaries (of which I was one of them also at the time) over the course of a few years. I lived like they do and saw most of those I knew candidly. Some of them are good people. Some of them are extreme hypocrits. Neatly all of them (just like myself at the time) have a target-lock on the goal of completing their mission and then going home to an honorable release. They are the least empowered, the least informed and the least threatening of all ordained mormon church leaders. Most of them are naive as I was. If you set clear boundaries, most of them will respect your boundaries. Many of them are unsure about whether they're teaching the truth or not. Many of them will eventually leave the church sometime after they get home. So be nice to them. They really don't care about Joseph or Emma, other than to tell the story they are taught to teach. They're just guys doing a job they believe in because they are naive.

With that said, I pity the poor fool from the mormon church (missionary or not) who doesn't respect my boundaries when it comes to preaching and giving their so-called testimonies to me. I don't need to break decorum. I can be nice to them and might even enjoy their company. But I can tear the strongest testimony to shreads in just a few minutes. It's not a pretty sight, even if they deserved it. I'll do it with a calm tone and a genuine, friendly socially connected smile on my face and still treat them nicely afterward. But it's like ripping a bandage off of a wound before the wound has healed. It's better to use self-restraint in most cases because after you take away their belief, they might not have much left to replace it with. Unless they're looking for a way out, I try to restate my boundaries and then change the topic.

PS: killing someone's so-called testimony more closely resembles a Jedi mind trick than anything like winning a debate. Think in your own mind only, about the most damning thing you know about the church and its false authority called 'priesthood', while politely smiling and saying something like "so you really know the church is true huh?" (look directly in to their eyes) "....really?" (suspicious, doubtful look on your face, followed by disappointment - like they just farted and everyone just heard it and they then lied about what they just did). Don't be afraid to let them feel by their seeing your facial expressions, the pain that these false beliefs has caused to you in your own life (but don't tell them any facts yet, or maybe ever). Your mix of empathy and pain-felt is something they will feel and can't debate, even to themselves. Have no doubt in your own mind that they'll break and wait long enough for them to know that you saw that candid look of doubt on their face before you look away. Don't gloat because if you did it right, you just broke their shelf for them and they didn't even see it coming. Everyone with a so-called testimony has doubt, whether or not they admit it to themselves. The mormon church has been using mind-tricks like the so-called "testimony" since their founding, to enslave people's minds. This is how to fight back against the so-called "testimony". But like with any other battle, you might harm your opponent. There are many different conversations and honest gestures that could have the same affect of exposing the false belief called a "testiminy". But this is generally how it's done. Any verbal debate over events or beliefs just confirms (in error in their own mind) their mis-guided beliefs in what they maintain to themself, is the truth. They can't debate the pain the church has caused to and your belief that it is a cult, anymore than you can prove that God didn't really speak to them. "......these aren't the droids you're looking for".



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2020 10:10PM by azsteve.

Yeah, I usually treat them kindly, offering a no-stress break from the pressures they're under, sometimes food and beverage. Getting on their case is like jumping on a sales clerk about the practices and policies of the corporation that owns the international retail chain.

I was a member for about 8 years, never served a mission. Whenever I see missionaries I will take the time to say hello to them. Many of them look a bit astonished that someone would actually talk to them.

Without exception they pick up quickly on my "inside baseball" knowledge of Mormonism. I ease them into it by truthfully telling them that I had a roommate in college who was a returned missionary. Eventually though I reveal that I'm a former member, married once in the temple. I always invite them to come back anytime they want but of course they're prohibited from associating with ex-members.

I never get involved in any scriptural chases with them. I tell them that the problem with Mormonism is that it teaches that there is more than one God while the Bible teaches just the opposite, that there is, always has been and will always be only one God. I point out to them that even the Book of Mormon teaches that there is only one God. You can toss out all the other stuff---Mormonism is ultimately heresy because of it's multi-God stance.

I gently told that to a couple of "sister" missionaries and they kind of gaped at me and said that they'd never heard about that within Mormonism. I recited to them Lorenzo Snow's famous couplet, 'as man is, God once was, as God is, man may become.' Both of them told me they'd never heard that couplet before. I have to admit I was stunned---they were either extremely good liars or they were geninuely that naive.

My companion, who was in evangelical ministry for most of her life and who has an encyclopedic knowledge of the Scriptures, is also very friendly to the missionaries but she will challenge them in ways I'm reticent to do. We always have nice visits though.

I also like to tease the missionaries when I see them at restaurants and the like. I will usually, loudly, tell the waitress to get them a pitcher of Mountain Dew on me. This usually gets a response---hey, it's okay now to drink caffeine!

With all do respect, I F_cken let'em know. That's how they did it to me, so I will stick it right back down their stubborn throats. At least I walk away satisfied!

When I run into missionaries, I run the other way.

The problem is, that they come to my house.

Me (shouting out the window). "Who's at the door?"

Missionaries: "We're from The Church of Jesu--"

Me (I love to interrupt the long church name): "We are not going to answer the door!

"Do your parents know you are out knocking on doors in the middle of a pandemic? Go home."

Haven't run into the missionaries in a long time. Last time was around a year ago at the grocery store. I paid for their groceries. Told them that I wasn't an answer to their prayers unless they were praying to Satan. Told them to take the money they saved on food and treat themselves to something nice.

I miss having them stop by. And if their timing was right, cooking up something for them. I enjoyed finding out where they were from, their families, and what their plans were when they got home. I liked providing an atmosphere in my home where they could just be themselves. I always got a kick out of them taking selfies standing next to some or the cool sports memorabilia hanging from my walls. I enjoyed having them over to watch Super Bowls and NBA Playoff games. And I wore as a badge of honor when they told me my house had been blacklisted by the mission. Word had gotten out about too much fun and not enough work at Bro. Jaxson's house.

With the mission home a couple miles from my house, I would say what touched me most was in their last day or two of their missions, a few have taken the time to stop by and thank me.

Yeah...someday when things hopefully get back to being a little more normal, I'll look forward to running into the missionaries again.

I made them welcome at my home too when I still lived in GA.

Anytime I crossed paths with mishies, I’d always have them memorize my address. My hook was that I could repair or tune up their bikes when the local shops would usually need several days or more to repair them. I worked in a bike shop when I was a kid, and at that time was also riding a lot myself.

Once they came around I’d genuinely try to make them feel welcome and at home. Even tell them where the spare key was in case they were out in the heat and needed to cool down, get a drink or a snack, use the bathroom or just hide and relax (at that time I was still single, so if I wasn’t home, nobody was). Also phone and internet access. I even had a few that would do laundry.

My real goal for having them memorize my address, instead of just knowing how to get there, was that I hoped to hear from them later, and I did hear from some, and a couple told me that they had lost their testimonies. Mission accomplished!

Great story, generous and wise.

Thanks, LW.

JoeSmith666 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A short visit when you happen to run into them.
> Ask why Emma Smith was only sealed to Joseph after
> 20+ other women were sealed to him?
>
> Or how Brigham Young could have 5 divorces?
>
> They usually remember they are late for another
> appointment.

Glass Ceilings

If the missionaries are showing up at your door, you haven't set any boundaries yet. If you want to be friends with them, just make the deal with them that I make with my mormon friends: "you don't try to convert me and I don't bash your religion, fair enough?". If they violate that agreement, they might end up without their testimony.

If you don't want them around and they show up at your door anyway, call their mission president and tell him that he is probably going to be the one to bail them out of jail after you call the police on them for criminal trespassing. Post a sign to make it legal and tell him you put the sign up just to keep the missionaries away. Quote the statute and at the end of the call tell him that you have just recorded the discussion (and really do record it). I use a free recording app called "cube acr" and it works pretty well. I dump most of the calls each week and save a few recorded calls that I might need later. Tell him that you don't want to embarras the church or destroy anyone's testimony but that you're happy to do both or either if the missionaries don't stay off of your property.

I once was a missionary. I just see them as young kids that really don’t have a lot of life experience yet. The last time I saw the missionaries I bought them lunch. They appreciated it. Also I was nice to them. You only drive people harder into their religion by being hostile to them. I just was honest, not argumentative and hopefully got them to thing about things. A lot of these kids we see walking around with the black name tags will end up leaving the church. A lot of missionaries are going through the motions. The two elders I bought lunch for admitted the went on a mission because they didn’t know what to do with their life.

Yep, that's why I went. I thought that it would give me another two years to figure things out!

Thank goodness circumstances allowed me to have fun, because to this day, I still haven't figured things out.

JoeSmith666 Wrote:
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> A short visit when you happen to run into them.
>

Why ask them Anything?
I am the one with answers.
They come to me w/ questions.
They leave sweetly fulfilled.

> ... They usually remember they are ready for another disappointment. >

Who cares about short visits?
ESPECIALLY with the missing...

They don't want the truth-
So they won't get it...
Until they're ready!

They can't keep up w/ me anyway. Mormons are notoriously slow! So be it. Watch Me Fly! WEeeeee

me: glad to see you, I love a good theological discussion!
mish: oh ah sure
me: so, Islam and Judaism both believe in one God, so they're the same religion, right?
mish: what?
me: Islam and Judaism both monotheist, so same religion, right?
mish: I don't know
me: sorry to hear it! come back when you're prepared.
mish: oh but I want to talk about this other thing
me: me too, but you're not prepared, you don't know basic stuff about major world religions

This usually ends the matter.

When I run into missionaries, I pay for their groceries or give them some money to go get a bite to eat. And I let them know as they are, I once was, but no longer am, yet I'm still kind and generous.

I haven't spoken to any missionaries in over 15 years, since I've been living where I currently do. I saw missionaries on my street once in that time and they by-passed my house. Maybe they have a note in their little apartment book to avoid my house because there's an ex-Mo living there. I don't know. I'm just glad they went on by. I have no interest in talking to them.

...hope your insurance is valid & sufficient.